Vending machine



MayYZI, 1940.

B. McL. FRITH ET AL VENDING MI CHINE Filed lay 15, 1957 2 sheets sheet 1 l I l I I l l I l INVENTORS 5 M. Fr/fh.

6 E. Gwyn/7e ATTORNEY May 21, 1940.

B. Mel... FRITH El AL vmwme MACHINE Filed May is, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y 6wfi.m N. y 3, F2 m 2, L T 1 B W# mfiw T 5 mmm A A 6 0 22 l/ N fl M I 6 2 m 6 w a w E 2 a" 3 Z 3 w Patented May 21, 1940 UNETED" k i? TENT OFFICE.

VENDING MACHINE Application May 15, 1937, Serial No. 142,924

In Canada February 5, 1937 Claims.

This invention relates to a vending machine for packaged goods of all kinds, particularly cigarettes and tobacco.

An object of the present invention is the pro- 5 vision of a vending machine in which packages maybe stored and from which these packages may be removed only upon insertion of coins of the proper denomination.

Another object is the provision of a vending machine having a suitable coin-freed mechanism and means for releasing one package at a time.

A further object is the provision of a vending machine of very simple construction.

There are a number of vending machines now on the market for dispensing wares of various types but each of these are made up of numerous moving parts which quite frequently go out of working order thus reducing the emciency of the machine as well as adding materially to the cost of production. This invention overcomes these difficulties by providing a vending machine of very simple construction having practically no moving parts or springs in its coin-freed locking mechanism making it practically impossible for the device to go out of order.

The present invention consists essentially of a cabinet having at least one package compartment with a drawer at the bottom thereof, means for ensuring only one package at a time being removed from the drawer and a coin-freed mechanism for releasing the drawer upon insertion of coins of the proper denomination as more fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a two compartment cabinet with the back removed,

Figure 2 is a plan view partly in section of the cabinet with the top removed, one drawer being open and the other drawer closed,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a single coinpartment cabinet,

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the cabinet with the side removed,

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5.of Figure 2,

Figure 6 is'aperspective view of a drawer for the cabinet,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the coin receptacle, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of a locking mechanism adapted for single coin operation.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, H1 is a cabinet having a front wall II, side walls l2, a top 13, a bottom It, a central partition l5 andv azrernovable back it heldin position by a lock I! located in the partition I5. The partition l5 divides the cabinet into compartments it and it which may be the same or different sizes.

Since the details of construction of the com- 5 partments l8 and H! are exactly alike, the compartment l9 and associated parts only need be. described. A partition-2! is mounted in the compartment lQspaced from the back thereof and extends laterally from the side wall l2 to the partition I5.

The bottom edge of the partition 2| is spaced from the bottom of the cabinet to allow room therebeneath for a drawer and a coin receptacle which will hereinafter be described. The upper edge of this partition is spaced from the top of the cabinet and is adapted to support a removable partition 22 which is held in place by a clamp 23 pivotally mounted on the partition 21. An additional partition 24 is situated at the front of the compartment inside the front wall it and extends downwardly from the top 13 with its lower edge spaced from the bottom of the compartment and lying approximately in the same plane as the bottom edge of the partition 2!.

A drawer 25 is adapted to be slidably mounted at the bottom of the compartment 59 immediately beneath the lower edges of the partitions 2| and :23 with its front wall normally lying flush with the front wall of the cabinet. The drawer so 26 consists of a pair of parallelside members 21 and 28, a front block 29 having a handle Bil extending outwardly from its front wall, and a rear extension 3!. The front block 29 and the rear extension 3lare substantially the thickness of the particular packages for which the cabinet is designed. The rear extension is provided with an enlarged recess 32 having one side bevelled as at 33. A plate 34 mounted on theextension Bl spaced above the bevelled surface 33, is provided with two spaced-apart, elongated slots 36 and 31, the latter slot being somewhat longer than the former. A pair of holes 38 and 39 are drilled in the upper surface of the extension adjacent each side thereof.

When in position in thecabinet, the drawer it restson a tray 40 situated beneath the compartment :9, said tray being spaced from the lower edges of the partitions 2| and 24 sufficiently to allow the block 29 and the extension 3| of the drawer to slide therebetween. The side members 2i and 28 extend outwardly from the drawer into grooves M and 42 in the centralpartition l5 and the side wall l2 respectively, said grooves acting as guides for the drawer. When the drawer is in closed position the front portion thereof projects outwardly from the tray 40 and over a discharge compartment 43 in which there is mounted a discharge chute 44 extending from the front edge of the tray 40 downwardly and outwardly to the front of the discharge compartment.

A coin receptacle 46 resting in the space between the drawer and the bottom of the cabinet, is provided in its rear wall with a longitudinal chute 4? leading to a transverse chute 48 the lower end of which is adapted to register with a chute 49 cut through the wall l2 when the receptacle is in position.

A look 56 having a latch 5| is mounted on the partition 2| at an angle to the vertical, said latch projecting downwardly and resting on the plate 34 when the drawer is closed.

A vertical plate 52 is formed with a horizontal section 53 secured to a support 54 which is a rearward extension of the tray 40. The plate 52 projecting upwardly into the recess 32 of the extension 3| adjacent the lower edge of the plate 34 when the drawer is closed, overlaps the slot 36 and a portion of the slot 37.

A pair of inclined chutes 56 and 5'! opening out through the side wall |2 at 58 and 59 respectively, extend inwardly and downwardly therefrom and terminate adjacent the plate 34, the interior of these chutes being in line with the space between the plate 34 and the bevelled surface 33. The chute 56 is in line with the slot 36 of the plate 34 and the chute 51 is in line with the slot 3'! of said plate. The chute 56 is wide enough to accommodate a coin of a certain denomination and the chute 51 is wide enough to accommodate a larger coin of another denomination.

A plurality of packages 60 may be placed in the compartment with the lowermost package in the drawer 26 and resting on the tray 40. The front edge of the rear extension 3| is bevelled as at (3| so that when the drawer is opened the second package from the bottom will ride up the bevel on to the top of the extension.

A weighted block 62 is placed on the uppermost package, said block being the same size as the packages. The block 62 is provided with pins 63 and 64 on each side of its lower surface adjacent the back thereof. When the last package has been discharged from the compartment, the block 62 remains on the rear extension 3| with the pins 63 and 64 extending into the holes 38 and 36. This looks the drawer open since the block abuts against the partition 2| and, therefore, the drawer cannot be shoved inwardly.

In use, a plurality of packages 66 are placed in the compartment i9 with the lower package resting on the tray 40 in the drawer 26 and the weight block 62 resting on the top package. When an attempt is made to pull the drawer open without inserting the required coins in the chutes 56 and 51, the drawer will open until the latch 5| drops into the slot 36 and abuts against the rear edge thereof. This movement is not sufficient to discharge a package from the compartment. When the drawer is closed, the latch 5| which is bevelled for this purpose, rides back on to the plate 34. If, on the other hand, the required coins are inserted, they slide down the chutes beneath the plate 34 and its slots 36 and 3'! where they are held by the vertical plate 52 (see Fig. 2). The drawer must be closed when the coins are inserted in the cabinet. As the drawer is pulled open, the latch 5|, which is slightly bevelled, will ride over the coins which raise the latch sufficiently to allow it to ride over the rear edges of the slots onto the plate 34. As the drawer is pulled outwardly, the front of the extension 3| pushes the package in the drawer from the tray 40 onto the discharge chute 44 whence it may be removed from the cabinet. While the drawer is being opened the coins drop down into the coin receptacle 46 as soon as they clear the vertical plate 52. At the same time, as the drawer is being opened, the package immediately above the bottom one rides up the bevelled surface 6| onto the extension 3|. When the drawer is closed, the packages abut against the partition 2| and the extension 3| is moved from beneath them resulting in the packages dropping downwardly with the lowermost package resting on the tray 40 in the drawer.

As stated above, when the last package is being discharged from the compartment, the block rides onto the extension until the pins 63 and 64 drop into the holes 38 and 39. This locks the drawer open so that it can be seen that there are no more packages in the compartment. However, it is possible that a person might not notice that the drawer is open. In this case, a coin inserted in the chute 56 would slide down onto the chute 4'! of the coin receptacle and thence onto the chute 48 and out of the cabinet through the chute 49. Similarly, a coin inserted in the chute 5'! would slide down onto the chute 48 and out of the cabinet through the chute 49.

When the drawer is closed, it is possible that a small coin intended to be inserted in the chute 56 is accidentally inserted in the chute 51. The

coin would slide down the chute beneath the plate 34 and since the vertical plate 52 does not overlap the whole of the slot 3'! there is suificient room to allow the coin to pass the vertical plate. In this case the coin drops onto the chute 48 and passes out of the cabinet through the chute 49.

The compartments l8 and I9 of the cabinet may be refilled by removing the back H5 and the partitions 22. At the same time, the coins may be removed from the cabinet by pulling out the coin receptacle 46.

With the above described cabinet, two coins are necessary to release the drawers. If the packages being dispensed require only one coin of a certain denomination, one of the chutes 56 or 51 would be dispensed with and the plate 34 would have only one slot 36 or 3'! (see Fig. 8).

A cabinet having two drawers has been illustrated in the drawings, but it is to be understood that a cabinet may be provided having only one drawer or any number of drawers of various sizes, each drawer having its own coin-freed locking mechanism.

From the above, it will readily be seen that a vending machine has been provided in which packages may be stored and removed therefrom one at a time only upon insertion of coins of the proper denomination.

Various modifications may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims, and therefore the exact forms shown are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense, and it is desired that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are disclosed in the prior art or are set forth in the accompanying claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

l. A vending machine comprising a cabinet, a package compartment in the cabinet, a drawer slidably mounted in the compartment adjacent the bottom thereof, an extension at the rear of the drawer extending beyond the compartment, said extension having an enlarged recess therein with one side bevelled, a plate spaced from said bevelled surface having a slot therein, a chute adapted to convey a coin of a certain denomination to the space beneath the slot in-the plate, means for holding the coin beneath the slot in the plate while the drawer is closed, and a lock mounted on a stationary support having a latch adapted to project into said slot permitting the drawer to be only partially opened when no coin rests beneath the plate, said latch being held inoperative when a coin rests beneath thev slot in the plate to permit the drawer to be fully opened.

2. A vending machine comprising a cabinet, a package compartment in the cabinet, a drawer slid-ably mounted in the compartment adjacent the bottom thereof, an extension at the rear of the drawer extending beyond the compartment, said extension having an enlarged recess therein with one side bevelled, a plate spaced from the bevelled surface having elongated slots therein, chutes adapted to convey coins of certain denominations to the space beneath the slots in the plate, a vertical plate extending into the recess of the extension adjacent the bevelled surface thereof, said vertical plate being adapted to hold the coins beneath the slots in the plate when I the drawer is closed and to allow said coins to drop to the bottom of the cabinet when the drawer is opened and a lock mounted on a stationary support having a latch adapted to project into said slots, said latch abutting against the rear of one of the slots permitting the drawer to be only partially opened when no coins rest beneath the slots in the plate and when coins rest thereunder riding over said coins on to the plate to permit the drawer to be fully opened.

3. A vending machine comprising a cabinet, a package compartment in the cabinet, a drawer slidably mounted in the compartment spaced from the bottom thereof, an extension at the rear of the drawer extending beyond the compartment, said extension having an enlarged recess therein with one side bevelled, a plate spaced from the bevelled surface having a pair of elongated slots therein, one slot being longer than the other, a pair of chutes adapted to convey coins of different denominations to the space beneath the slots in theplate, a vertical plate extending into the recess of the extension adjacent the bevelled surface thereof, said vertical plate being adapted to hold the coins beneath the slots in the plate when the drawer is closed and to allow said coins to drop into a coin receptacle lying beneath the drawer when the latter is opened and a lock mounted on a stationary support having a latch adapted to project into said slots, said latch abutting against the rear edge of one of the slots preventing the drawer from being opened when no coins rest beneath the slots in the plate and when coins rest thereunder riding over said coins on to the plate to permit the drawer to be opened.

4. A vending machine comprising a cabinet, a package compartment in the cabinet, a drawer slidably mounted in the compartment adjacent the bottom thereof, an extension at the rear of the drawer extending beyond the compartment, said extension having a recess therein, a plate mounted on the extension at the recess, said plate having a slot therein extending longitudinally of the drawer, a lock mechanism mounted on a stationary support having a latch normally resting on the plate and adapted to project into the slot when the drawer is moved outwardly to prevent said drawer from being fully opened, and a chute adapted to convey a coin of a certain denomination to the recess and beneath the slot in the plate, said coin preventing the latch from projecting into the slot sufliciently to keep the drawer from being fully opened when it is moved outwardly.

5. A vending machine comprising a cabinet, a package compartment in the cabinet, a drawer slidably mounted in the compartment adjacent the bottom thereof, an extension at the rear of the drawer extending beyond the compartment, said extension having an enlarged recess therein with one side bevelled, a plate spaced from the bevelled surface having elongated slots therein, said slots being in line with each other and extending longitudinally of the drawer, chutes adapted to convey coins of certain denominations to the space beneath the slots in the plate, means for holding the coins beneath the slots in the plate when the drawer is closed and allowing said coins to move from, beneath the plate when the drawer is opened, and a lock mounted on a stationary support having a latch adapted to project into said slots, said latch abutting against the rear of one of the slots permitting the drawer to be only partially opened when no coins rest beneath the slots in the plate and when coins rest thereunder riding over said coins on to the plate to permit the drawer to be fully opened.

BASIL MCLEAN FRITH. GEORGE ERIC GVVYNNE-CRAIG. 

